A Guyanese educator who seems to have charmed his manner into one of many prime tutorial jobs in Iowa is within the battle of his life to keep away from deportation after ICE brokers picked him up final Friday for being within the US illegally, and as authorities at the moment are brazenly questioning his tutorial credentials.
Till brokers rounded him up within the Des Moines district to implement a “last removing” order, Ian Andre Roberts, 54, had been holding down the $270,000 a 12 months job and wage because the superintendent of the biggest college district in Des Moines, supervising 5,000 staff and overseeing the work of 30,000 college students.
However his world because the well-loved educator who had additionally represented Guyana as an 800-meter runner on the Sydney Olympics in Australia in 2000 seems to be crumbling as his attorneys struggle deportation and as deep dives into his previous reveal questions on his choosing up a PHD from Morgan State College in Maryland greater than a decade in the past.
Initially, the Iowa Board of Instructional Examiners had publicly vowed to assist the previous Guyanese police officer cadet recognized by his supervisors for accelerated promotion, however they’ve since revoked his skilled license whilst they report that Roberts had cleared all their background checks by contractors and the FBI. The revocation sparked Roberts’ resignation on Tuesday. He famous by way of his attorneys that he wished to attenuate distractions to the district.
As Guyanese again house monitor his saga, many are calling on authorities to snap him up and award him a prime job in training, given his {qualifications}, if he’s, in reality, deported. But additionally, on Tuesday, the Des Moines Register reported no proof that Roberts holds a PHD diploma. Now they marvel what’s going to occur subsequent as officers probe deeper into his background.
Board Chairperson Jackie Norris mentioned that there isn’t any proof that Roberts is legally allowed to stay within the US, noting that he can not due to this fact be employed to work within the district “in any style. It’s a unhappy and troubling finish for a person who gave many individuals, particularly our college students, hope,” she mentioned in a press release. “He can also now not function superintendent in Iowa after the state revoked his administrator’s license.”
Alfredo Parish, his lead legal professional, mentioned in a press release that the staff remains to be working to unravel his immigration standing and to reopen his immigration case.
“To the Des Moines College Board, Dr. Roberts has approved me to ship this letter saying his fast resignation as superintendent of Des Moines public colleges. Out of concern for his 30,000 college students, Dr. Roberts doesn’t wish to distract the Board, educators, and employees from specializing in educating DMPS’s college students,” his legal professional famous.
His older brother Colin, who lives in Barbados, is adamant that “Ian is a citizen and that every one will likely be properly. He went to the College of Guyana whereas he was in Guyana and was a superb athlete,” he mentioned in a short notice to this publication.
Retired senior Guyanese law enforcement officials, together with Winston Felix and Paul Slowe, each remembered him fondly. They agreed that he was an officer of a lot promise that he was despatched on the nationwide normal navy officer’s course, aced it, and returned to the police as a cadet, recognized for larger issues sooner or later. However he left in 1999 on a US pupil’s visa and made the Guyana Olympic staff the next 12 months.
“We had despatched him on the usual navy officer’s course, and after commencement, he returned to the police. He served for a number of years after which left. He was not dismissed or dishonorably discharged in any respect. He simply moved on. He was a superb, promising, and disciplined man who had labored in a number of police departments, together with immigration,” mentioned Slowe, who admitted to being saddened by information of his troubles with US immigration.
